The things we never said
by bazil99
Summary: After two years of wondering what could have been, Aubrey and Stacie finally have the chance to experiment with their connection.


It was a welcome surprise for Aubrey to receive Chloe's desperate plea to let the Bellas spend a few days at the Lodge of Fallen Leaves. She hadn't seen much of any of them since she left. The only ones who bothered to keep in touch with her were Chloe, of course, and to her surprise, Beca. It was quite depressing when she thought about her friends not giving her a second thought. She always thought that after she loosened up a bit towards the end of the year that she'd grown quite close to the girls, in fact she became very close to a certain flirtatious brunette. In spite of the fun times they shared, Aubrey only heard from the woman once in the two years that had passed, and all the text had said was 'Good luck. We will miss you.' So impersonal, so generic, so disappointing.

So now, Aubrey finds herself waiting for her ?friends? to arrive, pacing by the car park thinking of how to approach the situation. To anyone else, it would seem like Stacie wasn't interested in talking about anything with Aubrey. After all, she hadn't reached out in two years, and her text was rather stand off-ish. Dripping with the hidden message of 'it was just a bit of fun'. However, Aubrey knew better. They had something, her and Stacie - whether that be a romantic connection or just the ability to have great sex and great company together - and there was no way Aubrey was going to just let it go when, and she'd never admit to this, she's been miserably lonely since she left Barden.

When the Bella's coach finally pulls up in front of her, she is shocked to find that her anxiety over seeing Stacie vanishes, and is replaced with the excitement of seeing Chloe and Beca (again, to her surprise).

"So, who did you here about this place from?" She hears Beca ask, clearly not wanting to be there.

"From yours truly." Aubrey reveals herself, and is shocked when everyone turns and runs to hug her. Even Stacie seems excited to see her, leaving Aubrey even more confused about where they stand.

* * *

As Aubrey watches the girls all have fun on the water slide she begins to reminisce about her time in the Bellas, specifically her final year with them, and can't help but regret everything she did. The way she treated everyone, Beca especially. Her poor decisions as leader. Her missed opportunity with Stacie. She wishes she could go back and have a do-over. She would have done a lot of things differently.

"Hey." Aubrey sighed as she looked at the girl who interrupted her thoughts.

"Stacie, you should be with the girls, otherwise it defeats the purpose of team building."

"I just figured now would be a good time to talk to you about stuff." Stacie said, regrettably.

Aubrey couldn't help but roll her eyes. "What stuff?"

"You know."

"No, actually, I don't. That text you sent didn't give me a lot to go on." To Aubrey's credit, she was far more riled up than she was letting on.

"I know, and I'm sorry, it's just I wasn't really sure what to say to you. Besides, it's not as if you replied or said anything about it either."

That's true. Aubrey hadn't exactly tried to get in touch with Stacie, or the other Bellas. She hadn't even replied to that text. As lonely as she had been feeling she never once reached out to Stacie.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Aubrey replied, after a lengthy pause. "I suppose I didn't know what to say either."

They sat in silence after that. _Baby steps._ Aubrey thought. It's one thing to admit that you had something you wanted to say, but it's another thing entirely to actually say it.

* * *

"We're leaving tomorrow." Stacie said after everyone else had left the campfire to go to bed.

Aubrey turned to her with a sad smile. "I know." She said softly.

"Can we talk now?"

With a tired sigh, Aubrey replied, "Do we even know what we're talking about?"

Stacie, to her credit, seemed to contemplate this for a moment before nodding with a shy smile, "What we had... have... is something I've never had with anyone before. That's why I didn't mention it before. I wasn't sure what the protocol was for this." She moved seats so that she was next to Aubrey. "I know neither of us ever said it. But I think you have to agree that what we were doing was more than sex, Aubrey. We told each other stuff. We know each other's coffee orders. We-"

"You remember my coffee order?" Aubrey said, shocked.

"Tall, black, 2 sugars. Unless you're upset, in which case, 4 sugars." Stacie retorted effortlessly with a smirk. "Why, do you not remember mine?"

"Of course I do, you a basic skinny latte girl, Stace." A light blush tinted Stacie's cheeks, "and you're right, we definitely weren't just having sex. I mean, I'd be lying if I said I didn't consider asking you out on more than one occasion."

"Why didn't you?" Stacie asked, disappointment clear in her tone.

"Because I was certain you'd say no. After everything I did to you all that year, who could blame you?"

Stacie snorted at this, "Aubrey, I don't know if you realise this or not, but you're super hot and are great in bed. Just because you pissed Beca off a few times doesn't mean I would reject a date with you. Definitely not after I got to know the non-crazy you." She said with a wink.

Aubrey smiled, "Well then, I'm sorry I missed my opportunity."

"Who said you missed you're opportunity?"

"You're trying to tell me you haven't had crowds of people asking you out since I left?" Aubrey asked with a raised eyebrow.

Stacie smirked again, "Oh no, I have. But that doesn't mean I accepted any of them." Aubrey narrowed her eyes at this causing Stacie to sigh. "They're not you, Aubrey. I don't want to date some gross freshmen who wants to show me off to his bros. I want to date you."

"That was a romantic speech." Aubrey chuckled. "Alright, how about I take you out after you win worlds? I'm sure Copenhagen has some lovely restaurants for us to try."

Stacie leaned in, kissing Aubrey softly. "I'd like that.


End file.
